They say it’s better to be lucky than good. But it doesn’t hurt to be a bit of both.
During Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship, the world’s best played in less than favorable conditions, as swirling winds made mischief all around Quail Hollow. But they also got their share of fortunate breaks.
As if it weren’t enough already to be the World No. 1., Scottie Scheffler was further uplifted by a miracle bounce on the short par-4 8th hole, where his errant drive, destined for thick woods on the right, caromed off the trees and back into the fairway, just short of the green. Though Scheffler failed to take advantage with a birdie, the lucky carom might have saved him from bogey or worse.
But that was not the day’s most striking ricochet.
Shortly before fate shined on Scheffler, Jon Rahm, playing up ahead, fresh off a two-under front nine that had thrust him into contention, pulled his approach on the long par-4 11th. As the ball left his club, Rahm could be heard on camera muttering “mudball,” echoes of a complaint that had rung out more than once during Thursday’s sodden opening round.
Whatever the cause, Rahm’s shot rocketed left toward a world of trouble. But instead of settling, short-sided, in a tangled lie, the ball hit something hard and bounced across the green and into the secondary cut, leaving Rahm with a much better chance of saving par.
That something hard turned out to be a spectator, who appeared to have been struck in the head. A scary moment. And yet in another fortunate turn, the spectator — a burly young man in a white shirt — wasn’t badly hurt. Moments later, he was seen on camera, laughing and smiling. He looked happier still when Rahm walked over to apologize, hug him and hand him an autographed glove.
Afterwards, Rahm said he was “very impressed” with the spectator’s ability to shake this one off.
“I haven’t seen a ball ricochet like that in a while,” he said. “I mean, if it was a driver, you would expect it, but for a 6-iron, I mean, that thing came in sideways quick. I told [my caddie] Adam, ‘Get the Sharpie ready because I’m going to have to give him something, like a signed glove.’ His response was, ‘That may not be enough.'”
Touche.
“He took it great,” Rahm continued. “I told him, if he was European and grew up playing soccer, football, and he just aimed a little bit better, maybe just get it closer to the hole. It’s a weird moment. Sometimes when that happens and they’re not hurt, they are so excited because they know we are going to go there and just have a five-minute conversation, and yeah, he took it great and he was a great sport about it.”
Like Scheffler, Rahm failed to get up and down and wound up dropping a shot on the hole. But all things considered, everything had worked out pretty well. If you’re keeping score at home, you can mark it down as mudball, bro-hug, autographed glove, bogey — with plenty of good luck to go around.
Rahm shot a four-under 67 and, at six under, will start Sunday in contention.
